This page was originally designed for Harvard
students, but around
90% of the hits come from outside Harvard. Our group has been fairly
effective at spreading the word about RSI here at Harvard, although
more so in some parts
than others. In this section is propaganda
material we've developed which we encourage you
to use (for
non-commercial purposes) to spread the word in your own area. Also
included are
suggestions for starting a support group.

Here is a set of RSI prevention tips we have developed for
publication. We have found
that it's hard to stop people from
hurting themselves or to pay serious attention to RSI
until they have
symptoms. Therefore, our goal has been to remind people often about
RSI.
Hopefully, soon after they get symptoms, they will see a
reminder, and will take action.
Putting tips like these into a school
newspaper, bulletin, or message of the day on a
computer system is a
good way to remind people about RSI. The tips consist of one longish
overview paragraph, followed by small tips meant to stand on their
own.

Repetitive
Strain Injuries (RSIs) such as tendonitis, carpal tunnel
syndrome, and others, are an
increasing problem. These injuries are
potentially very painful and disabling. They are
typically caused by
too much typing, writing, or mousing with poor ergonomics and not
enough breaks.

The symptoms of RSI include pain, soreness, numbness or tingling in
the
hands, wrists or forearms, or clumsiness. If you have any of
these symptoms, you should
take them seriously. See a doctor. The
Harvard RSI Action web page, http://www.rsi.deas.harvard.edu, contains
information about prevention and treatment of RSIs, and pointers to
other resources.

There are many easy things you can do to prevent RSIs. These include
taking breaks: 1 or 2
minutes for every 10 or 15 minutes of typing.
Type properly: use one hand to hit control
or shift and the other to
hit a letter key, rather than using one hand in a contorted
position
to hit both. Don't rest your wrists on a wrist rest, arm rest or desk
while
typing; put your wrists in your lap or get up during breaks.
Set up your computer
properly, including getting your keyboard to the
right height: your elbows should be at
about a 90 degree angle, or a
little more open. The web page has more typing ideas,
illustrations for
stretches to do during your breaks, diagrams on how to set up your
computer, and more; check it out.
Repetitive Strain Injuries (RSIs) are a continuing
problem.
Check out http://www.rsi.deas.harvard.edu for prevention
tips.

Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) prevention tip: take 1 or 2 minute
typing breaks every 10 or
15 minutes. Stretch and get up from your
chair occasionally. Check out http://www.rsi.deas.harvard.edu for
more
prevention tips.

Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) prevention tip: make sure your
computer is
set up right: your keyboard should be low enough that your
elbows are at about a 90 degree
angle, or a little more open. Check out
http://www.rsi.deas.harvard.edu for more
prevention tips.

Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) prevention tip: don't rest on a wrist
rest, arm rests or the table while typing. Your hands and arms should
move freely while you
type, so that your arms do the main work, and
you don't have to bend your wrists in awkward
positions. Check out
http://www.rsi.deas.harvard.edu for more
prevention tips.

Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) prevention tip: if your hands,
forearms, or
wrists are painful, sore, numb, or tingling, you have thesymptoms of RSI. See
your doctor.
Check out
http://www.rsi.deas.harvard.edu for
more information.

Here is the text of email messages we have sent out. When we send RSI
announcements, such as about prevention talks, we send this message
along with it at the
end. Or we send out the message directly to high
risk populations, such as computer science
undergraduates. It's a
good way to get the message to people. You can copy and paste it
into
your favorite mailer, nearly verbatim, except you'll probably want to
change the last
paragraph, and remove the reference to Environmental
Health and Safety.

How bad is RSI
RSI is potentially disabling. It can
make typing, writing, eating,
and even holding hands painful. It can last for many years,
and you
can get it in just a week, or even less.

How do you get RSI
The
most common way to get RSI is too much typing with bad ergonomics.
Writing or other
repetitive activities can also cause RSI.
For some people, RSI comes on suddenly. For
others, it comes on
gradually.

How do I prevent RSI
Take frequent rest
breaks from typing, perhaps 1 or 2 minutes every 10
or 15 minutes. Do this even if you have
something important due: when
you are working long hours, it's more important than ever to
rest
periodically.

Type properly: don't rest your wrists while typing, but keep them
floating above the keyboard. Don't rest your hand on a wrist rest: use it as a reminder to
keep your hands up. Don't contort your hands
to type key combinations like control, shift,
or alt: instead, use the
index finger of the opposite hand to type combinations. Don't
rest
your arms on arm rests while typing.

Set up your workstation properly (see the web
page for an
illustration). Your arms should be at a 90 degree angle, or slightly
more open.
Your monitor should be at about eye level.

Stretch and exercise your hands, wrists, arms
and upper back. Good
stretches include the prayer stretch (illustrated on the web page)
and
shaking your arms gently. But if you have any signs of RSI, don't
exercise: this could
make it worse. Go see a doctor.

What if I start to get RSI
If you feel
signs of RSI: pain, numbness, or tingling, go see a
doctor. If these symptoms come
occasionally and go away quickly when
you stop typing, try taking more breaks and improving
your work
station setup. You can get a free work station evaluation from the
Office of
Environmental Health and Safety, 495-2060. Occasional pain
could indicate a cumulative
buildup of damage, and you should type in
such a way you never have symptoms.

If your
symptoms are more serious or persist, go back to your doctor.
They may tell you to stop
typing or writing. Listen to them, even
though you probably have something important due
(if you didn't, you
probably wouldn't be working hard enough to get problems). If you
don't listen, you could seriously and permanently injure yourself.
Ask your teachers for
extensions, or your supervisors for
accommodations. Bring a note from your doctor.

Harvard RSI Action
Harvard RSI Action is a GSAS student group for graduate
students in
all Harvard schools, and for undergraduates too. Our goals are RSI
prevention, advocacy, and support. See our web page
http://www.rsi.deas.Harvard.edu. Our
web page has more prevention
information, lists of other resources at Harvard, and tips for
people
with RSI.

So far, the most
effective
means we have found for spreading the word about RSI is a
mousepad placed in the public
computer rooms. This mousepad contains
information about what RSI is and basic prevention
tips, as well as
where to go for more information. The mousepads cost about $4 each to
produce. (The mousepads are Harvard specific, so those outside
Harvard probably wouldn't
want to purchase them. Those inside Harvard
can talk to Lenny Solomon, solomon@huarp.harvard.edu,
for more information
about samples or ordering.
The mouse pad increased hits on our web site from within Harvard
from
about one per day to about 2 per day: they are the single most
effective means we have
had for getting information out. Theft has
not been a problem, especially since people can
just go to the website for more information
(and it's hard to get people to care enought
to
read them, never mind steal them...)

Support groups are
useful for
a number of reasons, and we highly recommend that you start one if there isn't
one already
in your area. Two places to check for support groups are http://www.engr.unl.edu/eeshop/supprsi.html
a list maintained by Paul Marxhausen and ARMS -- The Association for Repetitive Motion
Syndromes. (ARMS) P.O. Box 514 Santa Rosa, CA 95402-0514 707/571-0397
(please call between 10 a.m.-5 p.m. only, Pacific Standard Time)

If there is not
already a support group in your area, it's easy to
start one. The way our group was founded
was with help from the
physical therapy department at Harvard University Health Services.
Since most people with serious cases of RSI get physical therapy, by
putting a poster in
physical therapy and by notifying the physical
therapist (who then told patients about us),
we were able to find most
of our original members. Other useful places include disability
services, human resources, mental health services (since many RSI
sufferers become
depressed) and relevant doctors. You will need to
pick a contact person to maintain a list
of people in the group. Our
online mailing list has been incredibly useful for organizing
meetings.

Sending out propaganda, like that in the previous subsection, to your
local
newspaper (especially if you are starting a group in a corporate
or educational institution,
where there is some regular newsletter)
will also help: you will spread prevention
information while gainingmembers.

You should also contact the nearest support group if
it is anywhere
close to you. They may have members who have been commuting from your
area.
Just getting a few people from your area who can form the core
of a support group is
helpful. Then, you can work together to grow
(Some Harvard RSI Action members were also
members of a Boston area
group)